A Pirate's Life
by Kate Barancik
Summary: The survivors are finally saved, but by someone unexpected. Crossover with Pirates of the Caribbean.
1. Prologue

A Pirate's Life

Prologue

Summary: The survivors are finally saved, but by someone unexpected.

Rating: PG

Pairings: Who knows? spooky music plays pause Okay, fine, it'll be ConMama.

Disclaimer: Dude, if I owned Lost I would so have a bumper car. But I don't own Lost. Dammit, I really wanted that bumper car.

Sawyer wasn't imagining it, he was sure. There were white sails on the horizon. When he had first caught sight of them he thought they were just clouds, but soon realized that they weren't going in the same direction of the other clouds. As they moved closer, Sawyer realized they were coming toward the island.

"Doc!" Sawyer called over his shoulder. "You better come see this."

Jack came to his side then, looking curiously at Sawyer before asking, "What?"

In reply, Sawyer pointed to the direction of the sails in the distance. Jack stood, rooted to the spot for a moment, mouth slack open.

"Tell me I ain't crazy, doc," Sawyer said. Jack walked into the water, shoes and all, unaware he was even getting wet.

"What is it, brutha?" Desmond asked from where he sat playing a game of Go Fish with Locke. Both stood and several other survivors began coming forward.

"Dudes, is that what I think it is?" Hurley asked, standing next to Jack in the surf. He looked back at Desmond and said, "That's not you again, is it?"

"No," Desmond answered wide eyed, "I think I'm right here."

By the time the ship had anchored a few miles from shore, everyone was at the beach, gathering their belongings. Never before had there been so much excitement or happiness, even Jack was feeling giddier then usual. He was actually smiling and laughing. At one point, he goosed Sayid as he walked by.

A rowboat was making its way o the beach now to the cheers of everyone. The figure of a man wearing a tri corner hat came into view at the front of the boat. The survivors managed to somehow scream louder with delight as the boat rowed smoothly into the sand just out of the reach of the tide.

The man at the front took off his hat as his eyes fell on Kate, who was the nearest women to him. Though his dark eyes quickly found their way to Claire, but moved away just as quickly after seeing the baby in her arms.

He seemed to be in a rather sorry state. His cloths were torn in several places and his face was either dirty or ravaged by the sun, nobody could really tell which. Despite the tropical temperatures, he wore a leather coat, a vest, and a white shirt. Hanging at his side was a sword.

"Hello," Locke was, naturally, the first to say. Jack stood slightly away from the new guest, unsure of what to think.

"Well, this is not what I expected," the man replied. His gaze roamed the beach, doing a double take when he saw the church and Eko standing in front of it. "Where's the rum?"

"There is no rum," Jack answered the stranger. He sized up the man, as well as the two men in the boat he had brought with him. One was younger, with long dark hair pulled back in a ponytail. The other was older, with graying hair and beard. Both were dressed in similar fashion and as well had swords at their sides.

"Jack?" the younger man said impatiently as the stranger turned around with a shrug and headed back to the rowboat.

"What?" both Jack and the stranger answered. They looked at each other before the stranger said, "Small world."

The man, Jack, turned himself back to face the group of hopeful survivors. He surveyed them for a moment. As he did this, the younger man came out of the boat, handing his paddle to the older man next to him.

"I'm Will Turner," the young man introduced himself. He pointed to the other Jack and said, "This is Jack Sparrow."

He was promptly interrupted by the man whispering, "Captain, Captain Jack Sparrow," from the side of his mouth.

Will rolled his eyes and nodded his head back to the older man in the boat, "And this is Gibbs."

"Don't suppose you folks would be in need of a lift, now would ya?" Gibbs asked.

With this suggestion, everyone pushed forward, eager for rescue. But the doctor was quick to react. He put his arms up and called for everyone to stop.

"Hold on, women and children first," he said, though somewhat reluctantly. There seemed to be something rather odd about these people. But, as had become the island custom, he did not ask any questions.

"That means you, Mamacita," Sawyer said to Claire, who stood next to him. Locke placed Aaron's crib into the boat next to Gibbs, followed by Claire, who gave Aaron for the time being to Sawyer. The con man wrinkled his nose slightly and looked down at the baby, unsure of what to do next.

Kate was helped into the front of the ship by Sparrow, who kept trying to kiss the back of her hand before she could slap him. Every attempt was unsuccessful. There were only a handful of women, but they could only fit aboard when Gibbs and Will gave up their spots.

"And here I thought this day wouldn't be productive," Sparrow said, his words slightly slurred, as he looked at the boatful of beautiful women.

Jack and Locke pushed the boat back out into the ocean as the women took hold of the oars to row. Suddenly, Will was chasing after the boat.

"Jack!" he called out, concern in his voice. "You will come back for us, right? Not just take the women and leave?"

From the boat they could see the unusual man give an uncommitted shrug. Will exchanged a glance with Gibbs, who muttered, "Oh, no."

To be continued….

A/N: I'm really tired, but I wanted to get this out for Meggles and Ashlee before I went to bed. Hope everyone is enjoying so far!


	2. Chapter 1

A Pirate's Life

Chapter One

Summary: The rescuers have come, but can they actually rescue the Losties?

Disclaimer: Yeah, so last time I forgot about the part where I don't own Pirates of the Caribbean.

"Jack!" Will yelled out to the ship as he saw the tiny figures in the boat being pulled up into the ship by its crew. "You better be coming back!"

"It's alright, brother," Desmond said. "I have a boat."

"You do?" Will asked hopefully. Sayid came to stand next to the young man and pointed to where a sailboat was anchored just off shore. Will lifted an eyebrow.

"Why exactly haven't you used it to go anywhere?" Gibbs asked, voicing Will's thoughts for him.

"Well," Desmond started.

He was interrupted by Charlie, "This is where things get a little strange."

By the time the survivors had told of their harrowing plane crash and the subsequent goings-on of the island, Jack Sparrow was already rowing himself back to the beach. This was much to the surprise of young Will.

"Did you figure out I have the last of the rum?" Will asked him as the captain stepped out of his boat and onto the wet sand. Sparrow gave him a smile that showed his gold, yet dirty, teeth.

"I noticed this," he answered, flipping open his compass. Will looked over Sparrow's shoulder, wondering what the matter was.

"It's pointing north," Will said indifferently. "So?"

"It never points north," Jack said. Gibbs looked over Sparrow's other shoulder, mouth agape at what he saw.

"Mother's love, that can't be right," Gibbs said. All three of them looked off into the jungle. The survivors just stared at them, some whispering "Newbies" under their breaths.

Finally, Sawyer pushed through the crowd, Aaron in his arms. He had an angry look on his face that didn't seem as intimidating as it usually did seeing as even the small baby in his arms was laughing at it.

"Ya get used to it," Sawyer said sharply, ignoring Aaron's cuteness. "Now are we gettin' rescued or not?"

The three newcomers looked at one another. Then looked back at their ship. And back at each other.

"Did I not say we shouldn't go after that bright light?" Sparrow asked the other two.

"Bright light?" Desmond asked with sudden interest. "You saw that?"

"Kind of hard to miss," Sparrow replied, hands waving around wildly as he did so. Those who had been informed of Desmond's previous lack of pressing the button that brought down their plane, where now groaning loudly.

"My bad," Desmond said, head hanging. "Again."

"It could have been worse," Eko said, placing a reassuring hand on the Scotsmen's shoulder.

Sawyer seemed to seethe at this new discovery. He tussled with the blankets around Aaron, but was soon positioned his large hands over the baby's tiny ears. He then shouted, "Son of a bitch!"

"Is someone going to explain this to us?" Will asked, confusion written all over his face. This time Jack, the doctor, took the initiative and explained as best he could. The three pirates stood there as he went over the magnetic build up in the island and putting in the numbers. Locke took over when it came time to fess up about his lack of faith and needing to let the clock reach zero.

Desmond blushed very slightly as Locke got to the part where the Scot heroically risked his life to commence the fail safe. Will, Gibbs, and Jack looked even more confused when he got to the part about how the island must have been visible, that a sort of shield was lifted, allowing the ship to come close to the island.

"At least it wasn't another plane," Locke finished.

The three just stood there, staring. Each face with the same expression as the other: absolute confusion. Sparrow was the first to seemingly snap out of it.

"So what you're saying here," he said, arms once again waving as he swaggered toward the jungle, "is that we are in fact stuck."

"Yes," Locke answered. Sparrow only stood for a moment before swaggering off to his rowboat, dragging out a bottle full of rum.

"In that case, I'll make the best of it," he said, taking a long swig from the bottle. "I shall retrieve your bonny lasses."

Bottle in one hand, yanking Gibbs with the other, Sparrow jumped into the small boat. But before he could head back to the ship, Sawyer had his hand forcefully holding the rowboat in place. Aaron, meanwhile, was happily chewing on one of his shirt buttons.

"Think I'll come with you," Sawyer said, determination in his eyes.

"Aye," Gibbs said, "I wouldn't be leaving my wife with pirates either."

Sawyer stopped half in the boat and half out. "My what?"

"Wife, the blonde," Gibbs said. Sawyer could only stare. He opened his mouth to protest, but promptly shut it. He had never thought of Claire as anything more than "that cute blonde," but he supposed he could live with the idea that someone actually thought he deserved a women like her.

Baby in arms, Sawyer climbed into the boat next to Gibbs. He sat, watching his fellow islanders drift off into the distance. But his thoughts were not one them, rather he was focused on the twisting and turning in his stomach at the impending meet-up with Claire.

To be continued…..

A/N: Okay, I swear the next chapter will be longer. I'm going to see Dead Man's Chest tonight and I wanted to get the first chapter up before I went. Thanks so much for all the really nice reviews! I'm glad so many people liked the idea!


	3. Chapter 2

A Pirate's Life

Chapter Two

Claire was leaning over the edge of the ship, smiling brightly. The heart in Sawyer's chest leap when for a moment he thought that smile was for him.

"Aaron!" Claire said, reaching her arms out for the baby as the rowboat drew closer. Sawyer jumped over the side of the boat and landed with a soft thump onto the deck of the Black Pearl.

"Well, Mamacita," Sawyer said as he handed her Aaron. "I don't think we're getting rescued."

Claire smiled up at him, a smile and a look that lingered longer than he thought she normally would. Sparrow was careening around the ship, spouting off orders that sounded very much like he was getting ready to set sail.

"You can't leave Will behind!" A young woman with long brown hair was screaming at him. Sawyer stood slightly taller and took a more protective stance in front of Claire as he saw several of the crew members staring at her.

"Besides, William Wallace already tried to leave. Said he just ended up back at the island," Sawyer said. Sparrow stopped his walking directly in front of Sawyer.

"You're sure?" Sparrow slurred. Sawyer looked back at Claire, who raised an eyebrow at the Captain's, for them, unusual behavior.

"Yeah, I'm sure," Sawyer answered, an incredulous look on his face.

"Well then," Sparrow turned, clapped his hands together, and addressed his crew, "We're home, boys!"

The crew seemed unsure of whether to be excited about this or not. They looked around to one another, then to the island.

"There's alcohol," Gibbs interjected. The crew finally cheered and readied the ship to pull up and land on the beach. The brown haired girl who had been yelling at Sparrow earlier was now escorting the women from the island out to the deck.

"My name's Elizabeth Swann," she said to Claire and Sawyer.

"She's been keeping Sparrow away from us," Kate said as she stood next to Sawyer. "Thank God."

Kate looked to where Sparrow was steering the wheel. He waved at her and blew her a kiss. Kate cringed and shuffled closer to Sawyer, who was, amazingly, the most honorable man aboard. However, Sawyer moved closer to Claire, feeling protective of her and the baby.

The ship made its way back to the beach, going rather fast and plowing into several trees as it came to a stop. Those who had been watching from the beach stared open mouthed. A rope latter was uncoiled from the side of the ship and Locke, closest to the ship, saw Sparrow's head pop up and he made his way down to the sand.

He turned to the group merging on the ship and said, "Lovely to see you again," before anyone could say anything, he quickly added, "Where's the rum?"

Desmond held up a half empty bottle of Dharma Chardonnay, "We have wine."

"That'll work," Sparrow shrugged and grabbed the bottle from Desmond's hands. He sauntered off toward the shadows of the palm trees. His fellow pirates looked around with a hint of uncertainty. Likewise, the survivors surveyed the newcomers with hesitation.

"Well, 'least I'm not the bad guy anymore," Sawyer said to Claire. She smiled up at him, one that lit up her whole face and made every last nerve in his body spark.

"I never thought you were," Claire whispered as she walked back to her campsite to lay Aaron down for a nap. He watched as she walked away, fighting the urge to follow her.

"Best not to let a woman like that get away," Gibbs said from behind Sawyer. He turned to face the pirate, his usual mask pulled over.

"I'll keep that in mind, Ahab," Sawyer snarled in return and walked off in the general direction Claire had gone off in. He walked past Desmond and Locke on opposite ends of a makeshift table, playing Backgammon. Past Sparrow, who had already drunk his bottle of wine and was in Desmond's tent searching for another. Jack gave him a solemn nod as he tried to shield Kate from Sparrow.

There she was, kneeling next to the crib where the baby was sleeping. She was just watching Aaron sleep, like there was nothing else in the world. It stabbed him in the heart, remembering how his own mother would sit beside his bed when she thought he was asleep.

"Claire?" came a voice that Sawyer didn't recognize as his own. Sawyer looked to where it had come from. It was the hobbit.

"Go away," Claire said, impatiently. Charlie only moved closer, but before he could reach the crib Sawyer was in front of him.

"I don't think so," he growled. Charlie gazed up at him, only a note of fear in his eyes. The whole camp seemed to tense in that moment, every eye on the impending fight. But before anything could come to blows, Claire laid a hand on Sawyer's arm.

"It's okay, Sawyer," she said, "Charlie was just about to leave."

The tense moment was suddenly broken by a very inebriated Jack Sparrow stumbled between Charlie and Sawyer, yelling, "Please, gentlemen, don't fight on account of me."

Both looked at the captain, eyebrows slightly raised. The man just stood there, bottle of wine in hand, and smiled at the two aggressors. Finally Charlie, giving one last hostile glance at Sawyer, walked back to his newly constructed abode.

Just then Sparrow leaned in to Sawyer and whispered, "I was rooting for you, mate." With that, he walked away, swaying, and chugging down half of the wine in his bottle.

Claire let out a laugh and the tension drained from her face. Sawyer couldn't help but watch her. The way she smiled and laughed and pushed a strand of loose hair behind her ear, it was mesmerizing.

He had never told her his secret, one of many, but as of this moment, the only important one. Since they had crashed on the island he had been watching her. The day he gave her the wallets for the funeral service he had had some grand vision in his head of whole thing.

In his mind he was suave and debonair, giving her a cute nickname and making her laugh. He loved watching her laugh when she was pregnant. It made her belly bounce slightly, like the baby was giggling, too. But when the moment had come he just gave them to her, not sure what to say.

At that moment James Ford, that scared boy he used to be, had come out. After all the years, Sawyer thought he had buried his true identity beneath him, under layers of lies and cons. And in that one second, Claire had brought it all back out, clawing and kicking.

"Do, um, do you want to take a walk," he heard her voice. He stood dumbfounded, he must have nodded because she smiled, but his head was too numb to actually feel the motion.

"What about Blue Lagoon?" Sawyer asked, indicating Aaron. Claire looked around, and not finding Sun, she hailed Desmond, who was walking back to his tent.

"Hey, Desmond, would you mind watching Aaron for me," she asked, hands nervously in her pockets. Desmond looked at her, looked at Sawyer.

"If he poops, he's on his own, sistah," he answered. Claire smiled at him and gave her thanks. She began walking toward the water and Sawyer followed suit. Sawyer threw a glance back at the former hatch dweller to see him sitting next to the crib, looking in, and then opening up one of the romance novels Shannon had given Claire.

The two walked along the water, just out of its reach. Mostly Claire spoke, about the deadbeat boyfriend that left her alone and pregnant. But more often she spoke of Aaron. The began to set and they sat down beside each other and watched as it sank. As they did, Claire quietly reached over to lay her hand inside Sawyer's. He smiled to himself and squeezed her hand, just to make sure she was real.

TBC…

A/N: Altogether now, AWWWWWWWWWWW!


	4. Chapter 3

A Pirate's Life

Chapter 3

A/N: I just want to thank everyone for their awesome reviews, it really means a lot to me!

"Wow, I can't believe Blake did that to Amber," Desmond was saying to Aaron as Sawyer and Claire came back to her tent. Desmond was lying on his back, propped up by pillows next to the crib, where Aaron was seemingly listening intently. The romance novel Desmond had been reading was now almost to the end.

"Thanks for watching him, Des," Claire said, smiling. Desmond looked up from his book and sat up.

"No problem, sistah," was the reply. Sawyer, feeling like he needed to show Claire respectable he could be if he tried real hard, reached out a hand and when Desmond took it, pulled up the Scot. "Thanks."

Apparently Desmond had been with the group long enough to know that this was unusual. He cocked his eyebrow at no one in particular as he walked away, romance novel still in hand.

"Thanks for listening to me, Sawyer, I know you aren't much for conversation," Claire said with a smile. He thought he saw a slight blush cross her cheeks, and the longer he looked at her, the more it crept up until her forehead looked like a tomato.

She let her hair fall in front of her, to shade her embarrassment from him. He reached out and pushed the hair behind her ear, letting his fingers trace the curve of it and trickle a faint line down her arm. A sudden movement nearby made both of them jump.

"I'll have you know, that I am the foremost in boat-handling," a voice said. Both Claire and Sawyer knew exactly who it was before they saw him. It was Jack Sparrow, stumbling behind Jack Shephard, who was looking like he was about to cry, which in itself was not unusual.

As Jack passed by Sawyer and Claire he mouthed the words, "Help me."

"Guess I should go give the doc a hand," Sawyer said, his usual cheeky grin back. "You should get some rest, Mamacita."

He slyly walked away, turning back to look at her in the fading light of the setting sun. She was still looking at him, but quickly turned away when she caught his gaze.

"You best not break her heart, brothah," Desmond said from his tent. The suddenness of it startled Sawyer, making him stumble slightly.

"What was that, Sean Connery?" Sawyer asked after regaining his footing. The Scot looked up from his new romance novel, of which he was already half way through.

"You read this one, yeah?" Desmond asked, indicating said novel. Sawyer nodded. "Doesn't end well for Jasper, I'm guessing. He gets a sweet, innocent girl and he leaves her for the hot fugitive."

Desmond paused for a second, "Wow, that's kinda creepy how it's like real."

Sawyer scoffed at the thought of leaving Claire for Kate. She had just been a distraction, a compromise with himself, somewhere between pissing off Jack and trying to forget Claire existed.

"I wouldn't scoff, that sweet, innocent girl cuts off one of Jasper's testicles," Desmond retorted. Sawyer raised an eyebrow and walked away, back to the Scotsman.

Sawyer was at his tent, looking back at Claire, who was tucking in Aaron when he heard voices arguing from the tree line. At first, he didn't think it was anything until he heard the rather girlish scream that emanated from a certain Captain Sparrow.

By the time he reached the trees, Gibbs and Turner were already there. Standing before them was a familiar face, the once occupant of the gun storage room, Henry Gale. The rest of the Losties and crew, the ones who weren't passed out, anyway, of the Black Pearl joined Sawyer.

"Hey," Henry said to the converging group, a rather weary look passed to Sayid.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Sawyer asked, "I thought you escaped?"

"Yeah, turns out this island isn't as awesome as I thought it was," Henry answered, "Plus, I think I left my house keys in your hatch." He turned his piercing gaze to Sparrow. "Who's he?"

"Captain Jack Sparrow," he answered, stabbing his hand out and shaking Henry's vigorously. "And you are?"

"Ben," Henry answered.

"What?" Locke looked that look that said he noticed something that nobody else did.

"Uhhhhhhh…..I meant Henry," Henry answered, eyes shifting around. "Henry Gale."

"Where does Fabian get off telling Annabelle what to do? He's the one who had a torrid affair with the rich oil tycoon's daughter," Desmond suddenly said from just outside the group. Everyone looked at him, eyebrows furrowed.

Sawyer grabbed the romance novel from his hand, "Will you stop reading those damn things!"

"What do you want, Henry Gale," Sayid said.

Kate added, "If that is your real name."

"Yeah, it's totally not," Henry answered. "Anyway, I just wanted to let you all know that thanks to these guys," he indicated the pirates, "we've now traveled back in time."

Everyone stood dumbfounded for a moment. Hurley looked at them, "Dudes, really, that surprises you?"

A/N 2: Sorry so short. But I (finally!) got my laptop back from HP. Mental note; don't EVER send laptop back there! It took a month to get it back. Anyway, hope to have the next chapter up soon.


	5. Chapter 4

A Pirate's Life

Chapter 4

"What do you mean 'back in time'?" Jack said, as he made his way to the front of the group. "Where'd you get that idea from?"

"Did you not notice the pirates?" Henry asked, scrunching his forehead. Sparrow waved pointedly to Jack and slinked an arm around Kate, who kneed him in the groin.

Gibbs stepped over his fallen captain, "Look here, mate, there's no way we've traveled into the future."

"No, that would just be silly," Henry laughed, "The Island has traveled into the past."

"Dude, not cool," Hurley chimed in.

"Wait, wait, wait, how'd that happen?" Jack asked.

Before Henry could open his mouth, Sawyer retorted, "The magic island fairies and their sparkly wands made of tinsel."

"Or it was the hatch imploding," Henry answered. Desmond looked up from his previous staring at the sand.

"What?" He asked. "Why am I the one that's always imploding hatches and killing my roommate, and dooming the world to complete and utter destruction?"

"It was an accident, Desmond," Locke said, putting an arm around the former hatch dweller's shoulder.

"So was crashing your plane, brothah. That doesn't make it any awesomer," Desmond answered. He was so angry, he took out the only thing he had in his pockets, which was a piece of gum, and threw it onto the ground. "I have anger!"

"Dude that was our last piece of gum!" Hurley yelled, picking it up and brushing the sand off of it.

"Did he just say something about killing his roommate?" Claire asked Sawyer, who shrugged. While this was going on, Henry raised his hand.

"Yeah, you in the back," Jack said, pointing to the Others's leader.

"Time travel, take two," Henry replied, putting his hand down. "The implosion sent the electromagnetic field to go haywire and sucked us into the time of these pirates."

"Oh! So we're in the right time then?" Sparrow said cheerfully while putting an icepack on his groin.

"I guess so, yes," Henry answered. The captain jumped in the air, and gave Gibbs a high five. Sawyer put a protective arm in front of Claire as Sparrow ran around, mocking the survivors. Eventually, Sawyer got sick of the taunting and just stuck his arm straight out, which Sparrow immediately ran into.

"You okay?" Sawyer asked Claire, who was cleaning off some of the sand that Sparrow had kicked up.

"Fine," she answered, entwining her hand in his. A spark shot up his arm and jolted his brain. He looked at her, only to see her smile sweetly in response. Sawyer, despite all his attempts, could not hide a smile from her. Unbeknownst to them, the rest of the group was looking at them incredulously.

"OOOOOOkay…when did that happen?" Henry asked Kate, who shrugged. Sparrow suddenly stood up next to her and threw an arm around her shoulders once again. Jack shot him a death glare that the captain paid no mind to.

He smiled at her and spoke to Henry, "My keen sense of the female brain tells me that she has some undiscovered attraction to both older men and the 'bad boy'," Sparrow made air quotes, "persona."

This time every eye, including the fellow pirates, was on the captain. Sparrow merely smiled as he bent down, picked a wild flower that was growing at his feet and handed it to Kate.

"Something's wrong with him," Kate said to everyone else. Desmond handed her a full bottle of Dharma wine.

"This might help, sistah," he said. She took the bottle, looked at it thoughtfully, and hit Sparrow over the head with it. The pirate slumped over and fell to the ground with a soft thud. Desmond looked at her, mouth hanging open, "You weren't supposed to hit him with it."

Kate just shrugged and dropped the bottle, which landed on Sparrow's back and rolled off into the sand. Gibbs and Sawyer bent over and helped the fallen man back up to his feet. He wobbled somewhat, which was, in his case, perfectly natural.

"Are you alright, Cap'n?" Gibbs asked. Sparrow looked at him, eyes wide.

"My hit got brained," he said. Gibbs put an arm around his shoulder and led him off to the makeshift houses the survivors had made.

"Let's just have a lay down, aye?" Gibbs suggested as the two walked away. The captain was mumbling something incoherent, swigging from the wine bottle as he walked toward camp.

Sawyer returned to his place beside Claire, who whispered, "Can we please get back to camp, I don't trust him around my baby."

"Yeah," Sawyer growled. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and led her back to her 'house'. The others, including Henry, went along. For a moment, they were all silent, staring expectantly at Henry. Only when they reached the huts and houses of the beach neighborhood did he notice their gazes.

"What? Do I have a pimple?" He asked, running a self-conscious hand over his face.

"No," Jack answered, hands on his hips. "What are you going to do to get us back to the right time?"

"Me?" Henry, for once, looked genuinely surprised. He looked around and shrugged. "I got nothin'."

Grumbles came from several people nearby, including Claire, who was now lovingly watching over her son. Desmond and Sawyer stood guard over her.

"There's gotta be a way, brotha," the Scotsman said. He leaned up against one of the posts of Claire's house; Sawyer meanwhile was up against the other.

"Maybe you can blow up another hatch, Nobel," Sawyer smirked. Desmond flicked a mosquito at him and stuck out his tongue.

"Real mature, mates," Charlie said.

"Shut up," both Desmond and Sawyer said at the same time. A silence swept through the group as everyone tried to think of what to do. There were many creased foreheads and scratching of chins. Several minutes of this went on.

"We are so screwed," Sawyer finally said.

A/N: I am so so so so so sorry for the amount of time it took to get this posted. I frickin' hate college. At least the homework portion of it. Only two more weeks left. Speaking of which, December 15, the day after my finals are done, I'm going to the bar and getting drunk! Anyone is welcomed to join me.


	6. Chapter 5

A Pirate's Life

Chapter 5

Warning: Complete and utter foolishness.

AN: Thank you so much for all the reviews! I really appreciate them. Ash, I love the idea of CJate! There's not much in this chapter, but there will be some next time. Also coming up will be more Sayid. I didn't realize he wasn't really in this.

Henry Gale was tying a metal wire around Captain Jack Sparrow. Standing around them, watching in wonder were the pirates, the survivors and two of the Others who had come on Henry's request. One was a woman with dark blonde hair that was currently up in a pony tail and, according to Henry, her name was Juliet. The other Other was a young girl that, for some reason, Claire recognized.

"Okay," Henry said as he brought a small magnet out of his pocket and placed it square on Sparrow's head. "This could go one of two ways. One, you get sent back to your own time. Two, you get lost in the nexus of the universe never to be seen again."

"Have I mentioned how I don't care for this idea?" Sparrow asked.

"Yes, several times," Henry answered. He then motioned for Juliet to come over. She did so, though with a hint of reluctance. "Use the zapper thingy."

From her back pocket, Juliet brought out a stun gun. Several people backed away, but the pirates looked on in fascination. She pressed the button and zapped the end of the metal wire near Sparrow's feet. Nothing happened.

"Told ya," she said to Henry.

"Shut up," he said with an annoyed smirk. "Fine, you think of something."

"What happened? Am I dead?" Sparrow asked.

"Yeah, you're dead," Sawyer answered, unwrapping the metal wire from around Sparrow. Kate helped in the difficult task, as the wire kept catching Sparrow's cloths. He smiled and winked at her as she did so.

"Why don't we just blow up the hatch again?" Charlie asked.

"You can't blow up something you've already blown up," Locke answered. "Although we could go to the Pearl and try that one."

"Does it have a computer?" Desmond asked. Locke nodded his head. "Then I can probably blow it up."

"See, my idea is better than yours," Juliet taunted Henry.

"You didn't even think of that," Henry said in an uncharacteristically high voice. As they continued to fight, Claire suddenly grabbed Sawyer by his shirt collar and dragged him away from the group to her tent.

"Settle down, baby. I know you want me, but that was a little obvious," Sawyer smiled at Claire.

"It's Alex," she said suddenly.

"No," he teased, "your name is Claire."

"No, you jackass, that girl is Alex Rousseau."

"As in crazy French chick's daughter? The one that helped you get away?"

"Yeah, that's her," Claire said. She looked over Sawyer's shoulder to look at the young girl who was now helping Henry to dig some kind of hole and fill it with coconut juice. Sawyer looked behind him as well. His forehead crinkled in confusion.

"What in the hell are they doing?" he asked. But before he could think any more about it, Claire grabbed his chin a forced him to face her once again.

"What do we do?" Claire asked him. She unconsciously picked her son up from his crib and held him close to her chest, where Sawyer was unconsciously staring. "Do we trust them?"

She looked back up to Sawyer, who was still staring at her chest. She smacked him on the arm and pointed to her face, "Up here."

"Sorry," Sawyer said quickly. "I don't know, Mamacita. They seem to be cooperating."

The two once again looked over to the Others, who were now in the coconut filled hole with the pirates, jumping up and down and zapping one another.

--

After three hours and multiple attempts at time travel, the group was unsuccessful. Jack was now covered in flowers, Sparrow in coconut and dirt, and many of the pirates were throwing up from having been spun really, really fast by Henry. Finally, Henry conceded to the plan of going to the Pearl station. Although this only took place after a thorough explanation to Sparrow that the Pearl in no way related to his ship.

"Do you really think you can get the same electromagnetic charge out of it as you did with the Swan?" Henry was asking Desmond as he rolled up his sleeves and combed the ants out of his hair.

"I can try. Nothing else seems to be working so far," Desmond answered, wiping the makeup off his face. Jack, now fresh from having taken the flowers out of his pants, joined the two. He voiced a concern many of those in the camp had been having.

"Why are you helping us?" Jack asked.

"I can't have time traveling pirates wondering around, now can I?" Henry answered. "It'll ruin my plans."

"What plans?" Jack asked.

Henry's eyes went wide and he looked around in a panic as he realized his mistake. He had to change the subject and fast. Quickly he said, "Claire's your sister."

"What?" Jack said, surprised beyond belief. "No she isn't."

"She totally is. Didn't you ever wonder why your father went to Australia a lot?"

Jack looked over to Claire, who was sitting with Sawyer. There was a certain familiarity about her. He just always thought it was because he had probably seen her at the airport or on the plan. Now that he thought about it, he had always sensed something there.

"Dammit!" Jack yelled and stormed over to Claire. "Get away from my sister!"

"Is that true?" Desmond asked Henry.

"I don't know," Henry answered. "Probably."

Meanwhile, Jack was kicking sand in Sawyer's face and yelling at him not to put his dirty, filthy, redneck hands on Jack's baby sister ever again. Those around seemed perplexed by Jack referring to Claire as his sister.

"What the hell, Jack?" Kate asked as she took hold of him to stop the doctor from punching Sawyer. Jack put his hands on his hips once she let go.

"Claire is my sister," he said. He then turned and hugged Claire with all his might and, as is his fashion, began to cry.

"Um, help," Claire said as she looked confused and unsure of what to do. Jack let go of her and just stared at her for a moment or two.

"Family reunion, eh? I love family reunions!" Sparrow said. He wrapped his arm around Kate waist and chugged the ever-present bottle of wine in his hand. Kate just let the arm hang around her, too tired to fight him off again.

"What's going on here?" Juliet asked as she ran up to join the group, pack on her back.

"Claire's my sister. Isn't it wonderful?" Jack wiped the tears from eyes with the back of his hand.

"Peachy," Juliet answered. "Are we going to this station or not?"

"A station that I have never seen or heard of in my entire life, nor do I own a subsidiary company both related to and financed by Dharma Industries," Henry said.

"Uh…." Jack said. "Yeah, let's just go."

With the go ahead from their leader, the group comprising of Jack, Henry, Desmond, Locke, Sawyer, Sparrow, Kate, Juliet, and Sayid left the camp and headed out for the Pearl station.


	7. Chapter 6

Pirate's Life

Chapter 6

Sawyer looked back to the camp to see Claire near its edge, waving goodbye to him. Behind her was Charlie, making humping motions behind her. Sawyer shot him dagger eyes, but Charlie seemed to care very little. Vaguely, Sawyer wondered if anyone had a gun on them.

At the head of the group were Locke, Desmond, and Henry. They seemed to be having a whispered conversation that Sayid, who was trailing shortly after them, was trying to listen into. It was quite obvious that he was listening in as he kept asking them to repeat themselves.

Sparrow was walking beside Kate, arm around her waist and telling her about the time he stole candy from a baby. Sawyer punched him in the back of the head when he realized the baby Sparrow meant was Aaron.

Juliet and Jack brought up the rear of the group. One would look at the other from the corner of their eye and then quickly look away. And when Jack was not glancing at her, he was glaring at Sawyer.

"Sawyer," Jack started to say. Before he could finish, Sawyer turned on him and waved a hand to quiet the other man.

"I know, Doctor Spock, if I touch your sister you'll kill me," Sawyer said. "Fact is, we don't really know if she is your sister."

By this time the rest of the group had also stopped to see what was going on. Henry was at the forefront of the group, looking beside himself.

"Are you saying you don't believe me?" Henry asked with faux anger.

"Oh, let me see, yes," Sawyer answered him. Henry stared him dead in the eyes, Sawyer trying not to give him the victory of turning away.

"Fine," Henry finally said. "Everything is going exactly according to plan. Bwahahahahahahahaha!!"

The evil maniacle laughter continued for a moment before Henry stopped. Everyone in the group merely stared at him. He shrugged and continued walking. The rest of the group followed behind.

"Don't worry, brothah, I'm sure he's just messing with you," Desmond said to Jack, trying his best to comfort him. From behind them they suddenly heard a loud smack.

The entire group turned to see Sparrow and Kate, who had somewhat fallen behind the rest of their comrades. Kate was up against one of the palm trees with Sparrow standing close to her. One of his hands was on his cheek, it became obvious to the group that Kate had slapped him.

"Not on the first date!" she shouted at him, adjusting her shirt. She brushed past him with irritation. Sparrow stood in stunned silence before shaking his head and rushing after Kate's retreating form. He placed his hand on the small of her back and Sawyer could have sworn he saw the tiniest of smiles on her lips.

--

Claire sat in her "house" looking out to the glistening waves. She rocked Aaron back and forth in her arms and hummed a song. She closed her eyes, but she could still feel the heat of the sun against her eyelids and see the warm yellow light. Suddenly, the light and warmth was gone. She opened her eyes in panic.

"Hello there, miss," it was one of the pirates, Gibbs. His smile was friendly, albeit very unhealthy. She placed Aaron back in his crib as he had fallen asleep.

"Hi," she said timidly, still unsure of her new friend. He gave her another reassuring smile and sat down next to her in the sand. They stayed in amicable silence for a moment when Claire noticed Charlie watching her, his face peering at her from behind a tree.

"Your friend, Sawyer, gave me a pocket knife to keep the one behind the tree away from you," Gibbs finally said. Claire smiled, that sounded exactly like something Sawyer would do.

"He said if anything happened to you, he would tie me to a tree and let the polar bear have its way with me," Gibbs continued. Yep, definitely her Sawyer.

They sat again in silence. Claire handed him some cut up pineapple, which he took happily. Every now and again Charlie would start walking toward her, hands in pockets, as innocent as can be. Gibbs took his knife out and Charlie would just as quickly turn aside.

"Thanks, Mr. Gibbs," Claire said. It was nice to have someone around so she wouldn't just be sitting, worried about Sawyer and the others. They talked about the island and Claire told him all the interesting events that had transpired since the crash of flight 815. The sun was beginning its decent toward the horizon when Claire had finally finished.

Gibbs asked her about Sawyer. Claire told of how Sawyer always put up a bad boy front in order to protect himself. It was than that Gibbs leaned over to her and whispered something that sent chills up her spine, "He loves you, I think."

--

"Stop throwing pebbles at me!" Henry yelled back at Sawyer, who acted the picture of innocence.

"Jack, Sawyer's picking on us!" Desmond called up to their leader who was, well, leading them. A slightly bigger pebble than previous was thrown right at the back of the Scots head.

"Don't make turn this convoy around," Jack said over his shoulder.

Juliet, Locke, and Sayid were, smartly, behind Sawyer. They were talking amongst themselves. Sayid was giving his patented interrogation by asking Juliet questions like, "So, what's with the smoke monster?" to which Juliet would reply with a smile. She was more interested to hear Locke's story of the destiny that awaited him inside the hatch.

Sparrow and Kate were supposed to be the rear guards, but based on the giggling, the others highly doubted they were doing a very good job. But the group continued on, talking between one another, or throwing things at each other.

"Stop!" Jack called to those behind him. The charred ruins of the drug plane lay before them. "We're here."

The group grew slightly more serious, although Henry was trying to stuff grass down the back of Sawyer's shirt. However, the southerner was smarter than he looked. He kept turning around and throwing small fruits at Desmond.

"Dammit, he's the one who's doing it!" Desmond yelled, pointing at Henry, who shook his head and pointed one accusatory, grass covered finger at Desmond.

"Hey! Shut up and climb down the pit of darkness," Jack said at the open mouth of the Pearl station.

The group climbed down into the cramped quarters of the Pearl. Desmond looked around, "No ping pong table. And I thought I had it bad."

While Desmond went to the computer, Locke investigated the televisions and Sayid watched as Juliet and Henry stood in the corner. Sawyer made himself comfortable in one of the recliners.

"Hey, where's Kate?" Jack asked. "And Sparrow."

As though to answer his question, there was a sudden burst of giggles from above them and a bra fell down the opening. Everyone stared wide eyed at the piece of clothing as loud moans came from outside.

"Um…" Henry said. "I'm gonna go ahead and close the hatch."

"Can we get it back open from in here?" Locke asked. Just then a pair of pirate's pants joined the bra on the Pearl floor.

"I don't care," Henry said, climbing up the latter. Desmond started pressing random buttons on the keyboard. The computer beeped and started printing off sheets of numbers.

"It's not exploding," Juliet said. "Hit it with something."

"Here," Jack said, handing Desmond a baseball bat.

"Where did that come from?" Sawyer asked as it seemed Jack had pulled the bat out of thin air. Jack merely shrugged his shoulders.

Desmond took a batter's stance and then changed to hold the bat directly over the computer and brought it down hard. The computer beeped louder and sad faces began to repeat on the screen.

"Uh oh," Desmond said. The computer stopped and a giant sad face came on the screen. Henry, fresh from climbing back down the latte, pressed CTRL ALT DELETE and the sad face disappeared.

"I win at computer hacking," Henry said with a small smile. But before anyone could do anything a loud beeping sound surrounded them.

--

Claire was still sitting with Gibbs, having rather pleasant conversation. The pirate was surprisingly sensitive and had at several points cried when talking about his mother. It was during one of these moments that the two of them suddenly felt the ground begin to shake.

A bright white light began to spread all around them, several people began to moan and there were audible "not again" throughout the crowd. A rumbled grew below their feet and suddenly everything was back to normal. Claire had just stood and looked out in the direction that Sawyer and the others had gone off in when fire began to blast out from the jungle straight toward her.


	8. Chapter 7

A Pirate's Life

Chapter 7

The ground was shaking around the hatch, and the tremor shook the group inside it. They looked around them until the shaking suddenly stopped. Desmond turned to look at Henry, "You really suck at winning, brothah."

"Thanks," Henry smiled back. Desmond shrunk away. There were muffled voices yelling from the outside and pounding on the hatch door.

"Oh, yeah, I forgot about them," Jack said, his arm around Juliet's shoulder, protecting her from the now non-existent vibrations.

He led them up the hatch and outside, where Sparrow stood, shirt on backwards, and Kate, who was wearing nothing but Sparrow's coat. Jack looked around and saw that the tops of the trees had been scorched by fire.

"What the hell did you do?" Sawyer asked Henry, smacking the other man's shoulder with the back of his hand.

"There was a fire that just came out of nowhere," Kate said.

"Luckily, we were on the ground at the time," Sparrow added, winking at Kate, who in turn rolled her eyes. But soon her face went to a concerned look.

"It was heading toward the beach," she said. Everyone's eyes went wide, except Henry, whose eyes could go no wider than they naturally were.

"Claire," Sawyer whispered. Before anyone could say anything else, Sawyer was running toward the beach, following the burnt path. Jack, realizing why Sawyer was so upset, was not far behind him.

They both came to a sudden stop at the beach, in the distance Sawyer could hear Aaron crying. Will and Elisabeth had climbed off the ship and were running toward the camp. Sawyer followed not far behind them, with the rest of his group trailing behind.

"Claire!" Sawyer yelled as loud as he could. He could see the camp ahead of him, smoke billowing from tents and trees.

"Sawyer!" He heard Claire yell back, but he could not see her. It was not until Gibbs moved aside that Sawyer could make out her small frame. She handed the baby to Sun, who was standing next to her.

He ran to her even faster, she hobbled ahead, but did not go far. When he reached her, he picked her right off the ground and held her tightly against him. Once he put her down, Jack pushed him aside with enough force to make Sawyer fall right onto his butt.

"Are you okay?" Jack asked his sister. She nodded, but her face had ashes smeared across it and she was heavily favoring her left leg. Jack took her by the arm as Sawyer stood back up, giving the doctor a less than friendly look. The two helped Claire take a seat nearby.

"Yeah, the rest of us are fine," Charlie yelled to Jack from his tent. Alex was standing with him, and looked over to the group. She strode over to Henry, a displeased look on her face.

"What did you do?" She asked him, hands on hips.

"What makes you think I did anything?" He asked her, looking incredulous. Alex merely stared at him straight in the eye. Henry stared back and said, "Oh, don't even try that. I invented the creepy stare."

Yet, Alex kept on with her continuous stare, as did Henry. Everyone except Jack and Sawyer, who were too occupied with Claire, watched the stare down. Desmond munched on Dharma brand popcorn, sharing with Locke and Sayid.

"Not again," Juliet whispered to herself, rolling her eyes. Sparrow and Kate were sharing a bottle of Dharma wine and watched the staring contest, taking bets of who would win. Will and Elizabeth came up, gave each other a questioning look, and turned their collective attention to Jack.

"Everyone seems fine," Will said as Jack checked Claire's pupil dilation with a flashlight. "What was that?"

"Giant ball of fire and death," Locke answered, taking a handful of popcorn from Desmond.

Claire was pushing Jack away, trying to convince him that she was alright and to go look at the rest of those who were injured. Reluctantly, Jack made his way over. As he left, Sawyer took his place by Claire's side.

"Was that normal?" Elizabeth asked them.

"Kind of," Hurley answered with a shrug. "Be glad it wasn't a polar bear."

Elizabeth leaned close to Will and whispered, "What's a polar bear?" to which Will shrugged.

They turned back to the crowd that had now coalesced around Alex and Henry, who were still staring at each other. Some of the crowd had foam fingers with #1 written on them. Others had beer hats and giant pretzels.

"Where did those even come from?" Elizabeth squeaked. But by the time she looked back to Will he was gone, running to join the crowd wearing his own foam finger and beer hat. Elizabeth rolled her eyes and followed after him.

Away from the crowd, Claire and Sawyer sat together, his arm hanging tight and protective around her small shoulders. He swept a stray piece of hair out of her eyes and placed it safely behind her ear.

"You sure you're okay?" Sawyer asked her in an uncharacteristically concerned voice, although he made sure that it was low enough that those around could not hear him.

"Yeah, sort of scary, though," Claire replied, unconsciously leaning into Sawyer. He tightened his grip around her frame and held one of her hands in his free one. Gathering up courage he leaned forward and planted a soft kiss on her lips. She jumped slightly in surprise, but soon returned the kiss.

They broke apart just as quickly when there was a sudden uproar of booing and cheering. Apparently, Henry, who had his arms in the air in triumph, had won the staring contest. Juliet was rubbing Alex's shoulders and telling her, "You'll get him next time."

People were exchanging money and supplies, paying up for the bets they had made. Sawyer was considering leading Claire in that direction in hopes of winning a few desired affects. He looked at Claire to ask her, but the look on her face said that she already knew what he was thinking and did not exactly approve.

"I'll split the take with you," he tried to convince her. Despite herself, Claire let out a laugh. It rang through the chattering that went on around them. Sawyer enjoyed her laugh, it was light and airy, and sent his stomach in knots.

He watched her face, just stared at, mesmerized by the way it moved, how the sun played on her skin. Sawyer leaned forward, grabbing her soft chin and placed a smooth kiss on her lips. He could feel the smile twitch across Claire's mouth. Her hand on his check, brushing across the stubble, the little breath that escaped from her lips when they parted for a moment.

"James," she breathed. He smiled and leaned in again, but stopped short of her lips when something caught his attention. Sawyer turned his head to see the group that had been watching the staring contest was now sitting around watching them. The group still munched on popcorn, slurped out of beer hats, and waved foam fingers.

"Five bucks says he slips her the tongue," Henry wagered.

"I'll take that," Desmond replied. Henry reached a hand behind him to where Desmond stood and shook the Scotsman's hand. The group stared at Sawyer and Claire, waiting.

"What the hell, guys?" Sawyer scoffed. He smacked the nearest person, which happened to be Hurley. "Stop it."

Henry, who had been kneeling on the ground, suddenly shot up, causing those around him to utter startled gasps and jump away from him.

"Stupid!" Henry said, smacking himself in the head. "Why didn't I think of it before?"

"Think of what?" Jack asked, walking to the group, wiping his dirty hands with a clean rag.

"Jacob, of course," Henry answered, looking around like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "We can get him to send us back to the right time."

"What about us?" Gibbs asked, pointedly waving his foam finger to indicate the pirates.

"You can come," Henry shrugged, "But we'll have to something about that ship of yours."

"But we can use that to get off this bloody island," Charlie replied.

"Duh, that's sort of why I want to get rid of it," Henry scoffed. He thought for a moment and again, hit himself in the head. "The Black Rock! I always wondered were it came from."

"You mean you didn't know?" Jack asked him.

"Well, excuse me," Henry replied. "Do you know all the dark and dangerous secrets of the island that could consume and destroy your very soul?"

"Uh, no."

"Then shut up," Henry smiled. He turned back to the rest of the survivors. "Okay, so, we can just walk over to Jacob and be all, 'Dude, work your creepy magic and send us back and stuff.'"

"Road trip!" Hurley said, jumping into the Dharma van.

"Holy crap!" Henry screamed. "Where do you find that?"

"In the jungle. There was some dude named Ro-"

"Never heard of him in my life," Henry said loudly, eyes wider than usual. He continued staring as he backed into the van, climbed into it backwards and settled himself down in a nice window seat.

"You aren't going without me," Claire said as Sawyer stood. "Sun?"

"Yeah, yeah, I know, watch the baby," Sun sighed. She muttered something under her breath in Korean. Claire guessed it wasn't good since Jin put a hand over his mouth in surprise.

With that, Claire and Sawyer jumped into the van, sitting in the back next to Sparrow, with Kate sitting on his lap. Jack, Juliet took seats next to Henry as Desmond got into the passenger seat. With a honk of the horn and a wave of the hand Hurley drove the van out into the jungle.

TBC…

AN: I know, I know, it took me forever to post this. But the reason is because I posted both this and the next chapter. I'll post the next, and last, chapter in about a week!


	9. Chapter 8

A Pirate's Life

Chapter Eight

Warning: Swearing in this chapter.

Inside of the VW bus the group was singing various camp fire songs, including "Kumbaya," much to Sawyer's dismay. He distracted himself by snuggling into Claire's neck, much to Jack's dismay. Henry was discussing with Sparrow how he was planning on putting the Black Pearl into the middle of the jungle and changing the name on it to the Black Rock.

"That's bloody brilliant," Desmond exclaimed.

"I know," Henry smiled.

"It's the perfect mask, brutha, it's been there the whole time," Desmond continued.

"Well, it's nothing, really," Henry said, blushing slightly.

"Will you two stop flirting?" Sawyer yelled, glaring at the both of them. "I'm trying to get to second base here."

"Ew."

"Dude, that's gross."

"Hey!" smack, "That's my sister!"

"I didn't know you were gay," Juliet whispered to Henry. "Although I did suspect it when you would stay with Jacob late into the night."

"For the last time, we're just friends!" Henry shouted, throwing his hands around in emphasis.

Desmond raised his eyebrow in question, but Henry just smiled and turned to look back out the window. Desmond gave Hurley, who just shrugged, a look before watching the jungle pass by the window.

"Take a left up here," Henry said, pointing ahead.

"Dude, where?" Hurley asked, squinting out the windshield.

"You see that sign?"

"Yeah."

"The one that says 'Jacob's house 12 miles.'"

"Yeah."

"Turn there," Henry replied. Hurley did as he was told and turned at the green sign that was, for some reason, in the middle of the jungle.

"So," Jack said to Juliet, while trying to ignore Sparrow and Kate, who were making out, "Come here often?"

"Um, not really," Juliet replied, brows furrowed. Jack fidgeted nervously.

"I like your hair," Jack said, smiling to Juliet.

"Thanks, Jack," Juliet replied, giving him a winning smile of her own.

"It's blond, just like my ex-wife and my sister," Jack said, still smiling. Juliet's however, faded. Jack realized just how bad the sentence had come out. "Not that I'm obsessed with blonds or that I think of my ex-wife or Claire when I'm with you."

"Shut up, doc," Sawyer said. "You know, you're really bad at this. No wonder Kate's making out with a pirate right now."

Sure enough, when Jack looked next to him, Kate and Sparrow were still kissing. Jack turned away in disgust, deciding it was a better idea to look at Juliet. He was rewarded with a smile from her.

"It's alright, Jack. I know that you meant well," Juliet said, entwining her hand and his. She scooted closer to him and all Jack could do is to give her a goofy grin in return. They sat close together and whispered to one another.

"Okay, now that that's over with," Henry said. "You see that house over there?"

"Dude, you mean that shack?" Hurley answered.

"Oh, I'm so sorry that a house that has been sitting in this jungle for 200 years can't look any better," Henry said. "And yes."

Hurley pulled the van up just outside of the shack. He turned off the engine and the group jumped out and stood in the small, soot covered yard.

"Okay, a few rules before we go in," Henry said. "No flash photography. Please turn off all cell phones and video games. No technology of any kind. He really hates that."

Henry opened the door, and everyone looked around his shoulder, eager to see the mysterious Jacob. They saw nothing, just jars on a window sill, an empty chair and desk. However, Henry motioned for them to come inside.

"Jacob?" Henry said to the chair. "Can you put that down and help us?"

Suddenly, a man appeared from nowhere, sitting in the previously empty chair behind the desk. He was dressed in a leather jacket and blue jeans, his feet propped up on the desk, and he was playing a game of Sudoku.

He looked up at the group and nodded, "'Sup?"

"What the hell happened to you?" Henry asked, looking incredulous.

"Dude, it gets boring out here in BFE. I thought I'd mix it up a little," Jacob answered. He took his boot clad feet off of the desk, but kept his attention on his game.

"Whatever. Can you get us back in the right time?" Henry asked.

Jacob looked around and said in confusion, "Are we in the wrong time?"

"Yes!" Henry said in surprise.

"I thought he was supposed to know everything, brutha," Desmond whispered to Henry.

"So did I," Henry replied.

"Don't get your knickers in a twist," Jacob said, putting his Sudoku paper down. He snapped his fingers. Nothing seemed to happen, but he looked around with an accomplished look on his face and said, "There."

"Looks the same to me," Jack said. Jacob rolled his eyes.

"Well, it's not," he answered. "That chair moved two inches and we went 200 years into the future. Or present. Or whatever the hell you want to call it."

"Than why am I still here," Sparrow asked from the back of the group, jumping up to be seen.

"Who the hell is he?" Jacob asked Henry.

"Pirate!" Sparrow yelled, jumping.

"Oh. I thought you guys wanted to stay. I can send you back if you want," Jacob said.

Sparrow stopped jumping, took a look at Kate, who was busy staring wide-eyed around the room, down to a bottle of rum in his hand and said, "No, I think I'm fine right here."

"Okay, in that case, I'm gonna go ahead and put your ship in the jungle and rename it the Black Rock," Jacob answered, picking his game back up off the desk and began to fill in numbers.

"You can do that?" Claire asked.

"Guh duh, I'm the shit," Jacob answered, rolling his eyes. The group stood around, watching Jacob, who paid them no mind.

"Uh, that's it?" Kate asked.

"Yup, don't let the door hit you on the way out," Jacob replied, not looking up.

"We really should have done that sooner," Jack said, leading Juliet out by the small of her back.

One by one, they left the old shack, Henry closing the door behind them. They looked around the jungle and then at one another and then back at the jungle. Desmond twiddled his fingers and rocked back and forth on his heels.

"So," he said. "What now?"

"Wanna go to the secret Dharma water park?" Juliet asked. Henry scowled for a moment before deciding it was a good idea. The others cheered along and jumped into the van.

All except Claire and Sawyer, who walked slowly toward the vehicle, hand in hand.

The End?

A/N: Okay, so that's it! I know, strange way to end it, but hey, it was a strange story.


End file.
